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Job summary

Main area
Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering
Grade
NHS AfC: Band 5
Contract
Permanent
Hours
  • Full time
  • Flexible working
37.5 hours per week
Job ref
321-SW-6214603-B5
Employer
Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Employer type
NHS
Site
Churchill Hospital
Town
Oxford
Salary
£28,407 - £34,581 per annum pro rata
Closing
08/05/2024 23:59

Employer heading

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust logo

Senior Technical Assistant

NHS AfC: Band 5

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research.

 

The Trust comprises of four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

 

Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.

 

Many of our recruitment programmes use Value Based Interviewing to identify those who have the skills we seek, who share our values and who are able to deliver compassionate excellence from the outset. We know that this makes a significant difference to your job satisfaction and above all the outcomes and experience of our patients and their families. For more information about our Values and Value Based Interviewing please visit www.ouh.nhs.uk/about/vision-and-values


 

Job overview

We are seeking to recruit an enthusiastic and flexible person to deliver an efficient technical business support duties within Medical Physics & Clinical Engineering and Radiotherapy Physics. This role involves taking responsibility for the quality management system and providing support for radiation assurance and governance services for the department.

Main duties of the job

The post holder will be expected to take day to day responsibility for the  quality management system in line with departmental policies and procedures.

Assistance with services which support the operational management along with a support to the departmental audit activities will be  required.

Ensure assistance with the personal dosimetry service, radioisotope ordering service and support the department's radiation research assurance and CPD programme.

Interview Date: tbc

For further details / informal visits contact:

Sangeetha Sundareshwar- Deputy Head of Scientific Computing and Operations

Email: [email protected]

 

Working for our organisation

Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust is one of the largest NHS teaching trusts in the country. It provides a wide range of general and specialist clinical services and is a base for medical education, training and research. Find out more here www.ouh.nhs.uk

The Trust comprises four hospitals - the John Radcliffe Hospital, Churchill Hospital and Nuffield Orthopaedic Centre in Headington and the Horton General Hospital in Banbury.

Our values, standards and behaviours define the quality of clinical care we offer and the professional relationships we make with our patients, colleagues and the wider community. We call this Delivering Compassionate Excellence and its focus is on our values of compassion, respect, learning, delivery, improvement and excellence. These values put patients at the heart of what we do and underpin the quality healthcare we would like for ourselves or a member of our family. Watch how we set out to deliver compassionate excellence via the OUH YouTube channel.

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

Job Description

JOB TITLE: Senior Technical Assistant (Quality)

GRADE: Band 5

Hours of work: 37.5 hours per week

Responsible to: Deputy Head of Scientific Computing & Operations

The department of Medical Physics and Clinical Engineering (MPCE) is responsible for providing scientific support and advice wherever ionising (eg x-rays and radioactive materials), non-ionising radiations (eg optical radiation) and medical devices, are used . 

The department contains 4 groups; Imaging Physics, Radioisotope Physics, Clinical Engineering & Clinical Measurement and the Scientific Computing & Operations group.

The Scientific Computing & Operations Group provides scientific computing services, manages assurance, governance and quality systems and provides a framework to support innovation, exploit new business opportunities and provide operational services, across the department of Medical Physics & Clinical Engineering (MPCE). 

The group provides frontline IT support, leads and maintains the department’s software development programme and is responsible for providing policies and procedures pertaining to safe scientific computing practices within MPCE.

The group leads the quality management system implementation program and provides support and training to MPCE. The group provides quality management policies and procedures to comply with the relevant statutory and certification requirements, managing risks, incidents and clinical effectiveness through the departments Clinical Governance 
committee. 

The group is accredited to provide training for STPs in the Clinical Bioinformatics (Physical Sciences) specialism and training supervision for rotations in Bioinformatics (Genomics & Health Informatics). The group has responsibility to manage the Trusts radiation assurance programme which includes Trust wide departmental radiation compliance audits, research 
assurance and radiation incident management.

JOB SUMMARY: The post holder will be responsible for assisting with technical business support duties within Medical Physics & Clinical Engineering and Radiotherapy Physics. The role will involve the implementation of operational procedures and will require a high degree 
of organisational skills and a working knowledge of business management systems within a scientific environment, providing support for quality, radiation assurance, governance and incident management, within MPCE. The post holder will take lead responsibility for the management of the quality management system for MPCE. 

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES:

1. Responsibilities

1.1 To take day to day responsibility for the management of the quality management system in line with departmental policies and procedures
1.2 To support radiation and computing related scientific & technical services within Medical Physics & Clinical Engineering.
1.3 To assist with services which support the operational management of the department of Medical Physics & Clinical Engineering.
1.4 To support departmental audit activities.
1.5 To assist with the delivery of the personal dosimetry service
1.6 To assist with the delivery of the radioisotope ordering service
1.7 To support the departments radiation research assurance service.
1.8 To support the departments CPD programme

2. Managerial
2.1 Prioritise and manage own work to meet agreed outcomes .
2.2 Forge close positive working relationships across the department, to achieve and sustain quality services.
2.3 To carry out duties in line with the departments business management procedures.

3. Research and Development
3.1 To provide support to research and development activities within the department.
3.2 Participate in the departments audit programme.

4. Teaching and Training
4.1 To train other staff in own area of expertise.

5. Professional
5.1 Develop and maintain effective and professional communication and working relationships with all levels of personnel within MPCE and the wider Trust. 
5.2 Maintain an agreed programme of CPD and contribute presentations to the department’s CPD seminar programme.
5.3 Attend suitable seminars and courses as part of training and personal development and to further the work of the department.
5.5 An ability to organise meetings and taking minutes for the meetings will be required.
5.6 Ensure that all aspects of the work are provided in accordance with a quality framework, and conform to relevant legislation, national protocols and Trust policies.

6. General
6.1 To ensure compliance with the policies and procedures in the areas of work for which the post holder carries responsibility. Participate in the development and routine operation of such procedures. 
6.2 Occasionally to lift moderately heavy, cumbersome equipment for several short periods during a shift.
6.3 When working in other departments, the post holder will liaise with local heads of department, superintendents, nursing and management staff adhering to local policies and practices. The post holder will behave courteously and professionally at all times and seek to ensure that the highest level of service is provided by their team.
6.4 Work the hours necessary for the proper and efficient performance of the work, within the flexible working system set up in the Department. In practice the post holder will occasionally be required to perform duties outside the normal working hours of the Department.
6.5 To have a positive attitude towards learning new skills 
6.6 To perform other appropriate duties which may be required from time to time by the Deputy Head of Group.
6.7 Frequently to use VDU equipment for periods up to the whole working day.

LIAISES WITH:
Qualified Advisers Required by Statute, Radiographers, Clinical Scientists, Directorate 
Governance and Quality leads, Operational Management, Theatre staff.

Person Specification – Senior Technical Assistant (Quality)

Area

Definition(s) 

Qualifications

Education & training

Educated to Degree level or has equivalent training, knowledge and experience.

Has a good standard of English and Mathematics (GCSE 5 or above).

Knowledge & Experience

Specialist

Highly developed, specialist and practical knowledge and experience in clinical governance and quality improvement, preferably within a scientific healthcare environment.

Highly developed, specialist knowledge and experience of quality management systems.

Knowledge and practical experience of developing, managing and conducting audits and interpreting complex data.

Experience of writing and implementing procedures within area of expertise.

Knowledge and practical experience of project management techniques.

Knowledge of business support procedures and systems.

Can test and validate the operation of scientific equipment.

Managerial & Financial

Able to deputise for the line manager in the specialist area of expertise (Quality management, Chair the Clinical Governance Committee).

Able to plan and organise complex projects and take a lead role in the specialist area of expertise.

Able to exercise own initiative when dealing with issues within own specialist area of competence.

Experience of departmental financial operations: ordering, invoicing, booking travel & CPD processes.

Able to train other staff on departmental procedures and policies within own area of expertise.

Able to prioritise and manage own work.

Legislation

Awareness of standards, guidance and legislation applicable to radiation use and quality management, e.g. ISO 9001:2015, IRMER 2017, IRR17)

Skills

IT

Able to manage and maintain departmental software systems associated with Quality management.

Able to use Excel, Word, Access etc. to set up documents and spreadsheets and extract information.

Able to use specialist software packages (Trust wide and department specific) and create bespoke reports from complex and diverse datasets.

Ability to take minutes and organise meetings and events.

Physical

Able to handle and operate scientific equipment 

Able to use computers and carry equipment necessary for duties (carry laptop, papers to and from meetings/committees).

Mental

Able to concentrate for long periods to enable analysis of complex information

Self-motivation and ability to meet deadlines.

Able to cope with a busy working environment and respond appropriately to ad-hoc non-routine requests.

Have a positive attitude towards learning new skills.

Emotional

Rare exposure to distressing circumstances

Communication

Ability to communicate complex information in area of own specialist expertise, with diverse groups of staff, committees and working groups.

Excellent communication skills.

Able to work with a number of teams on a variety of sites.

Ability to write, and present reports at departmental committees and meetings.

Environment

Able to understand the hazards posed by, and precautions needed with:

Ionising radiation

Non-ionising radiation

Electricity (medium and high voltages)

Cross-infection

Bio-hazards

Fumes

Solvents

Tools at elevated temperatures

Compressed medical gases

Cleaning agents and other hazardous materials

Person specification

Shortlist Offline

Essential criteria
  • Relevant Skills and Education
  • Relevant Work Experience
Desirable criteria
  • NHS Experience

Employer certification / accreditation badges

Fair Train work experience quality standard - gold standardVeteran AwareApprenticeships logoNo smoking policyPositive about disabled peopleArmed Forces Covenant (Silver Award)Embracing Equality Diversity InclusionDisability confident employerStonewall equality policy. Equality and justice for lesbians, gay men, bisexual and trans people.Prince's Trust - Proud to support the Prince's trust - Youth can do itStep into healthArmed Forces Covenant

Applicant requirements

The postholder will have access to vulnerable people in the course of their normal duties and as such this post is subject to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975 (Amendment) (England and Wales) Order 2020 and as such it will be necessary for a submission for Disclosure to be made to the Disclosure and Barring Service to check for any previous criminal convictions.

Documents to download

Apply online now

Further details / informal visits contact

Name
Sangeetha Sundareshwar
Job title
Deputy Head of Scientific Computing and Operations
Email address
[email protected]
Telephone number
+44 01865222035
Additional information

Sangeetha Sundareshwar- Deputy Head of Scientific Computing and Operations

Email: [email protected]

Contact Telephone number: 01865(2)22035

(Preference would be email contact first to arrange a suitable time for a telephone call if required)  

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